1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of conducting sweepstake-type games in lottery format over a computer network, and in particular to a method of and system for allowing each individual participant to use his or her personal computer to connect over the Internet to a Web server of a lottery authority operating on the host computer system, submit his or her lottery selection to the lottery authority, and participate in the lottery drawing by receiving a chance to qualify for a substantial prize without any purchase of a lottery ticket or any other form of wagering or payment. The lottery system according to the present invention is structured in way that automatically links the submission of each lottery participant containing numbers chosen by that participant to information about products and services advertised by various Internet vendors and each lottery participant, who must agree to receive such information as a condition for participation in the lottery.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, lottery games are conducted as a state-wide governmental system where the participants make their selections and participate in the game, usually by wagering a small amount (e.g., one dollar ($1.00)) for each selection submitted to the lottery authority. In addition, as a confirmation that the chosen selection has been processed and sent to the lottery authority, each participant usually receives a lottery ticket with that participant""s lottery selection, i.e. the numbers selected for a particular lottery drawing, printed thereon. This wagering and submission of the selected numbers by each participant is usually done at the local lottery ticket dispensing facilities, which relay to the lottery authority the selections of all participants that wagered or purchased their selection at those facilities. The participants may usually place new or additional wagers (by purchasing tickets at the local lottery ticket dispensing facilities) during a designated time period prior to the lottery drawing that is scheduled for a particular day and time. Then, after the close of that period, the lottery authority conducts a lottery drawing, during which a series of random numbers is selected by the lottery authority or another agency running the lottery drawing. The randomly selected numbers for a particular lottery drawing, i.e. the winning combination, are posted at all local lottery ticket dispensing facilities and may be announced through the mass media. The participants whose selections match the winning combination for a specific lottery drawing become eligible to receive a substantial monetary prize, the so-called jackpot, often in millions of dollars, by presenting their confirmation tickets to the lottery authority. The participants whose selections only partially match the winning combination may also become eligible to receive monetary prizes in lesser amounts.
Automated systems for submission of the selections chosen by the participants and confirmation of those selections through an automated telephone system or a computer network are known in the art. Examples of such systems are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,149, issued to Xidos et. al., the U.S. Pat. No. 4,842,278, issued to Markowitz, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,910,047, 5,904,619, 5,415,416, 5,816,919 and 5,823,877, issued to Scagnelli. Another example of such automated system is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,467,424, which discloses a remote gaming system that enables the player to participate in a lottery from a remote location though the computer network. Similarly, PCT International application No. PCT/US97/08457, published on Dec. 31, 1997, discloses the use of the Internet to communicate their selections to the central computer or a network of computers of the lottery authority that conducts lottery drawings, and to allow for verification of the submitted selections.
While the systems that utilize the Internet to conduct a lottery and provide for an automated submission, verification and processing of a selection from each lottery participant are known and described in the prior art, the known systems and method all require either placement of some wager by a participant, a charge against the participant""s account or credit card, or some other type of consideration that is required in order for the participant to participate in the lottery and become eligible to receive a winning prize if his or her selection matches the winning combination. In the lottery systems known and described in the art, the jackpot and other prizes (i.e. large sums of money that are payed to the winners of the lottery) are derived from the funds received from the millions of lottery participants making their purchases or placing small wagers on their selections. Given the tremendous popularity of the lottery games with the public, as demonstrated by the fact that millions participate in numerous state lotteries weekly, there exists a need for a system to conduct a lottery where the participants would not need to wager their own funds or make any purchases in order to subsidize the winning jackpots for a relatively few winners of the lottery.
Additionally, with growing popularity of lotteries in the United States, where millions of people participate in the government-sponsored lottery games, the use of the lottery system where all participants must contribute and spend their money on a purchase of tickets for a small chance to become a winner of a large jackpot has been criticized as an unfair tax system that derives most of its revenue from the low and middle income communities that generally purchase most lottery tickets. These concerns for the disproportionate impact of the large-scale lottery games upon global economics emphasize the known shortcomings of the existing lottery systems and underline the substantial need for a free lottery system where the revenues used to pay for the jackpot prices and the expenditures and profits of the lottery authority would not be derived from the wagers and purchases of individual participants. Further, the popularity of the Internet has enhanced the value of lottery-type games.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a system to conduct a truly free lottery, where individual participants are not required to wager any of their own funds or make any purchases in order to be eligible to participate in the lottery drawing held or supervised by the lottery authority and receive an equal chance at winning the large jackpot prize or a number of smaller prizes. Accordingly, the present invention provides a method and a system in which the submission of each selection chosen by a lottery participant is automatically linked to information about products or services advertised by various Internet vendors, i.e. companies that place their banner advertisements on the Web site running on the host computer system of the lottery authority, and each lottery participant must agree to receive such information. The participants in the lottery according to the current invention are not required to purchase any of the vendors"" advertised products or services in order to submit their selections to the lottery authority or be eligible to participate in the lottery. Instead, the lottery method and system of the current invention provides for an automated system to satisfy the growing demand among vendors of products and services on the Internet to reach a wider sector of the public with information about their products and services by utilizing the growing interest of the public in playing lottery games over the Internet and their willingness to receive advertising information in exchange for the shift in cost for the participation in the lottery from individual participants onto the Internet vendors.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an Internet-based lottery system where the central host computer system that operates a Web server of the lottery authority may securely accommodate and process the selections and submissions of a large number of lottery participants and also be able to limit the number of selections that may be submitted by each individual participant for each lottery drawing. Accordingly, the present lottery system includes software components that receive and process personal information of each lottery participant that is provided by the participant when he or she first connects to the Web server of the lottery authority and submits a lottery selection (i.e. a set of chosen numbers that represents that participant""s entry). The personal information submitted by each lottery participant may include name, address, E-mail address and may include other types of information that can be used to contact and inform the participant about winning numbers and whether the participant won any prize based on his or her submitted selections. In addition, each participant may be asked to submit additional personal information about his or her preferences and interests, such as, for example, particular types or categories of products or services about which the lottery participant would like to receive information. This additional information may be analyzed and processed by the software components running on the host computer system of the lottery authority to automatically connect the participant during the submission and processing of his or her lottery selections only to the products and services that match his or her interests and preferences.
In another aspect of the current invention, the software program or a component of a software program running on the host computer system of the lottery authority can identify the participants that have previously submitted their personal information to the lottery authority and avoid redundant and duplicative submission of personal information from the same participant. In yet another aspect of the current invention, the software program or a component of a software program running on the host computer system of the lottery authority determines when each participant reaches the maximum number of selections or submissions that are allowed per participant for a particular lottery drawing and restricts further submissions from that participant for a particular lottery drawing. In order to accomplish this aspect of the current invention, the lottery system could utilize so-called xe2x80x9ccookiexe2x80x9d technology that is commonly used on the Internet, i.e. storing identifying data or any other type of identifying information in the memory of a personal computer used by the participant, and then extracting, processing and updating that data when the participant again connects to the Web server running on the host computer system of the lottery authority. Utilizing this stored xe2x80x9ccookiexe2x80x9d data, is not preferable for security reasons. In the alternative, or in addition to the use of xe2x80x9ccookiesxe2x80x9d, other known types of techniques and technologies may be utilized to achieve the desired result, as, for example, requiring each participant to provide the Web server running on the host computer system of the lottery authority with a user-id and password (which could be encrypted for additional protection), and further requiring that each future submission of lottery selections by that participant be preceded by the submission and processing of the corresponding userid and password. The software program or a component on the host computer system of the lottery authority then identifies each individual participant, keeps track of the selections submitted by each participant for each lottery drawing and prevents submission and processing of submissions from the participants that have reached the maximum limit allowed per participant for a particular lottery drawing. In addition, depending on the circumstances, the number of entries allowed per participant may be varied for different draws.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an Internetbased lottery system where the central host computer system that operates a Web server of the lottery authority can automatically generate a verification notice, confirming the registration of participant""s selection for a particular lottery drawing. The verification notice may be sent to each participant via E-mail to the address provided by the participant in the personal information that is submitted prior or during the first time that participant submits his entry to the lottery authority. In the alternative or in addition to the above-mentioned method, the verification notice may be posted on another Web page or another Web server, where the participants are directed to refer for the confirmation that their submissions were registered and processed by the lottery authority.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an Internet-based lottery system where the central host computer system that operates a Web server of the lottery authority automatically identifies all the participants whose submissions matched the winning combination, which is determined at a random drawing conducted at the specified day and time, and automatically generates lottery result notice to each participant in that drawing, informing him or her about winning combination and whether that participant is eligible to receive a prize based on his or her submissions for that drawing. As with verification notice, the lottery result notice may be sent to each participant""s E-mail address, or posted on another Web page or another Web server, where the participants are directed to refer for the results of a particular lottery drawing.